U.S. Open Championship 2021 Saturday, June 19, 2021 San Diego, California, USA Torrey Pines Golf Course Bryson DeChambeau Flash Interview

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: It was, but it was on a side hill Q. Bryson, your first bogey-free round in a major at and there was sand behind the ball, so it rolled into the the U.S. Open as defending champion. Where does side and it didn't go straight in, so I didn't have a clean that put you heading into tomorrow? strike on the back. For me I was like, look, I can still make birdie, my wedges are great. Unfortunately, the ball came BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Well, I was certainly glad to out left and then spun left off the fairway into the rough, come away free of any mistakes today. I made a few, 7 and that was a Debbie downer. But I was still able to play and 14 and 18, but was lucky enough to save pars on it nice out of there, and ball didn't roll back like I thought, those holes, and making a 20-footer hitting a wedge shot in but I gave myself a chance for birdie again. there close to seven feet always helps when you're trying to salvage par. Q. I know you've been talking about it here a bunch. Just talk about the Brooksy bros out there. That's what you've got to do. You've got to be really patient out here at these majors. It's something that is not BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Hey, I love it. I think it's so easy to do. My first few goes at majors, I was not much fun. People think that it annoys me. If anything, it successful or anywhere near successful, and I feel like I'm just creates a great atmosphere for golf. At first I didn't starting to understand major championship golf and how to really know how to handle it. You're kind of thrown into a play it and how to go about managing my game, my situation. But now I enjoy it. I think it's great. You've got attitude and just my patience level. If I can continue to do to embrace it. There's going to be team Bryson, team that tomorrow, I think I'll have a good chance. Brooks out there, and hey, keep it up, I'm happy about it. I'm excited that one day we can eventually get paired up Q. It seemed like today's setup was a little easier for and play together. It would be fun. some players. How much will tomorrow's setup factor into the outcome? Q. You hit some nice drives on the back nine, but you also missed a few, but you never seem to get in much BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Yeah, if they make it hard and trouble. Was that basically the game plan? Did you tuck pins, it's going to be a very difficult championship. It's feel like you got a bit of luck in the rough, or is that going to be hold on to your horses. If they make some of just the way the course was set up? the pins accessible and move the tees up like they did, you're going to have to go at it. You just have to recognize BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Yeah, it's kind of the way the the golf course in the moment, in the conditions at hand course was set up, but for me when I miss it because I hit it because if there's no wind tomorrow or if there's a lot of pretty far, I'm going to miss it off line quite a bit. So that wind, that's going to change a lot of factors, too. It's about plays kind of into my advantage a little bit more because adapting on the spot. where the people are walking, it's trampled down and you get some good lies out of that. 4 is a great example out I think that's what's so great about the game of golf is I can here today. I was able to hit it close. I didn't make the putt, take as many numbers as I want into play before a round but again I hit it over to the right, it's trampled down, had a but until you get out there on the golf course and you see nice lie, and I was able to get it up on the top ridge. and sense and feel things, you're going to have to adjust off of those numbers. That's what the beauty is of this Again, that was all part of the strategy. I knew that there game, and no matter how much I try and take every was going to be people walking and trampling, and if it was variable out, you're still going to have to adapt every day. a bad lie, I can still run it to the front of the green and hit it out from there. Q. 18, was there any thought when you're standing in that trap of going for it?

108990-1-1182 2021-06-20 00:07:00 GMT Page 1 of 2 That's still the game plan, and hopefully I get lucky and then when we get to the tee box we make the tomorrow again. decision. We adjust off of whatever is going on at the present moment. Q. Does that mean that the Winged Foot strategy works here, and are you actually employing that the Q. And when you're standing over your drives and it same way that you did? looks like you are kind of psyching yourself up in that moment -- BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Yeah, I mean, well, I'm hitting driver off of pretty much every hole, depending on where BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Yeah, it's a lot of adrenaline the flag is. Like 14 is the only hole that I laid up on, and it stuff, trying to get my body in the right place. was with a 4-iron yesterday, it was because the pin was back right so I wanted to give myself a chance for birdie. I Q. What's the thoughts? Is it the same thing every knew if I would miss the fairway on that hole there's no time or are you thinking different things to get into that chance I go for that pin, so depends on where they put it place? tomorrow. I'm sure it'll be back right, but it'll be a game-time decision again, and I think the Winged Foot BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: It's about feeling it correctly, play is kind of what's going on this week so far. and then it's also about amping myself up, like (breathing) get myself moving and going to create a lot of blood flow Q. How much different has this test been though than that allows me to hit it hard. Because I'm just static over it Winged Foot? and just staying there, you see a lot of the long drive guys doing that. So it's tough to fully employ it out here in Tour BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Well, the grass is completely event golf, or major championship golf for that matter, but I different, so it's a lot of kikuyu, poa annua, and it's stickier, try and implement a little bit of what the long drive guys do, so you can't brush the club through it as easy. Sometimes and it's not the full-blown thing, but it's still a little bit. you get jumpers, sometimes you get just golf shots that come out super dead. So you've just got to judge the lie FastScripts by ASAP Sports really well. At Winged Foot it just seemed like they were all coming out dead no matter what. There was never really any jumpers so I didn't have to contend with that.

That would be the only other thing, and then the greens are tough to putt on. They're a little bumpy just because it's poa annua and that's part of the game. I recognize it, and you've got to embrace it. If you don't embrace it and stay patient, that's a part of the test, everybody has to deal with it. So it's all about who gets luckier.

Q. Is there some pride in facing both these tests and playing them really well?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Yeah, I've really never played great on poa annua, but I've started to embrace it recently, and it's suited me well so far. Hopefully I have a great day tomorrow. I've just got to go out there, hit some great golf shots and make a few birdies early and get myself up near the leader.

Q. When you talk about recognizing the course in the moment, I wonder when you are going into a round like that and you get out the pin sheets and you see the different yardage markers, do you have your plan of attack going into it? Are you still making decisions on tee boxes?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: I have a general game plan,

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